Line-drive for walking tractors.



A. D. COLE. LINE DRIVE FOR WALKING TRACTORS. APPLICATION mum 22, 1917.

1,252,402. Patented Jan. 8,1918'.

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WITNESSES IN VENTOR 4641f ARTHUR D. 001.15 a. QJWL A T TOR NE Y6 VZZWM/ A. D. COLE. LINE DRIVE FUR WALKING TRACTORS.

APPLICATION FILED MMLZZ, I91].

Patented Jan. 8,1918,

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( ,d, afakx A. D. COLE. L'INE DRIVE FOR WA'LKINGTRACTORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22. 19] 7.

Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

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A. D. COLE.

LINE DRWE FOB WALKING TRACTORS. APPLICATION F-ILED 11.22. 19:1.

1,252,402. Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

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ARTHUR D. COLE, OF ST. PAUL, :MINNESO'IA.

LINE-DRIVE FOR WALKING TRACTOBS.

Application filed mach 22,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, I \n'rmn: l). Conn, a citizen of the United. States, resident of St. Paul, county of Ramsey, State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Line-Drives for Walking Tractors, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to apply a line drive controlling mechanisni for the type of tractor shown and described in my pending application for Letters Patent of the United States, Serial No. 144,012, filed January 23, 1917, to the end that the driver of the machine can operate the sets of h and shoes in the same direction, either fox. Ward or backward, or one set lll'Olll. direction and the (it her in the oppor-site direction, or allow one set to be stationary while the other is moved either forimrd or l'iackward, and thereby have perfectcontrol of the operation of the machine.

The invention consists generally in various constructions and con'il'linations, all as hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a walking tractor with my line drive controlling means applied thereto,

F 2 is a side elevation of the machine,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the clutch mechanism, showing the manner of shifting it to change the direction of movement of: the traction shoes,

Figs is a vertical. sectional view, stantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the line drive controlling levers and dog therefor, showing the lever and dog in their neutral position,

Fig. (5 tripped to allow forming sub- is a sin'iilar view, showing the dog the lever to swine forward. and operate the. clutch to start the machine,

Fig. 'i' is a vertical sectional view through a portion of the lever and dog,

Fig. 8 is a view corresponding to Fig. 5, showing the lever and do; drawn. backward to reverse the driving mechasisu'i.

in the drawing, 2 represents the side rails of the frame, 3 the rails at: the front thereof and l a rear rail, all preferably made ofel'iannel. bar on account of its strength and. v rigidity. ,5 i

I prefer also to provide rails 5 and 6 par-' Specification. 01 Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 8, 191a.

1917. Serial No. 156,757.

allel with the' rails 2 and spaced therefrom and connecting the rails 3 and t. 7 is an en ginc of suitable type, preferably internal combustion, mounted between the rails at the rear end of the machine. The engine has the usual fly wheel 8 and a suitable change speed mechanism is arranged. within a casing 9 and as this ijx'u-chanism. is of ordinary construction, I have not thought necessary to illustrate or describe it in detail herein.

Tl 5 engine shaft 10 has a driving; gear 1-1 secured thereon and mounted tomes!) with beveled gears 12 and 1.3 which are loosely z'uounted (in a shaft 14 having bearings w in a casing The gears 12 and 13 clutch melnl'iers 1(3 and 1.6 and 1? formed on opposite sides thereof and a r ing pinion 1.8 is loosely mounted on the shaft 14 between the gears. 12 and 13 and has clutch members 19 and 19* formed on the hub thereof for engagement respectively with the friction surfaces of the clutch members 16 and 17 for transmitting power from the driving shaft througl'i the pin ion 18 to the mechanism hereinafter described. One end of' the sl'iaft l-i has a clutch member 20 splined thereon for en gagement with the clutch member '16, and the opposite end of the shaft has a ClllV- ing pinion 21 corresponding substantially to the pinion 18 with its hub splined on the shaft 14 and provided with a clutch member 22 for engagement with the member 17.

If or operating the clutch members 1. prolevers are oscillated. For operating, these lovers, 1 provide a shaft 26 with hubs E27 and 28 secured thereon and in'these provide cam grooves 29 and 29, all substanlially the same form, except that they are reversed in position on the shaft, so that one lever, for instance 23, will be neutral when the other lever 525 is being operated. A second shaft 30 is also provided, having a hub ill secured thereon, provided with a cam groo 32 to receive the lever 24 by means of which the clutch members 19 and 19 'arc shift ed to lock or release them.

The shaft 30 has a depending arm33 secured thereon and a lever 34 is pivoted at 35 on the machine frame and is connected by a hubs I teeth 43. A spring 44 connects the leverv 34 with the machine frame and tension norclutch member and operate the mechanism conrllected therewith either forwarder backwar It will be noted that when the lever 34 is pulled backward so that, the dog 40 swings past the center of its pivot, that it will assumethe position shown in Fig.- 8, and when released, the tooth 41 will clear the'notch 38 and allow the spring to throw the lever mally holds the lever in the position shown forward suflioiently to operate the clutch 75 in Figs. i and 5 with the tooth 41 in the notch 38 of the guiding bar. This is the neutral position of the lever and the one it oceupies when the clutch members are in the position shown in Fig.

The shaft 26 is similarly equipped and I will indicate the link connecting the depend ing arm with the lever by reference numeral 36 and the lever by numeral 34?, the lines attached to these levers being referenced as 45 and 45*.

Referring now to Fig. 5, if the driver pulls the line 4.5, the tooth 43 contacting with the pin 3d will rock the dog, lift the teeth 41 out of the notch 38 and upon releasing the line, the depending teeth 43 cooperating with the pin 39 will cause the tooth il to ride over the notch and allow the spring 44 to swing the lever 34 to the position shown in Fig. 6.

This movement of the lever will rock the shaft 30 and through the lever 24 and the cam groove on the shaft will shift the pinion .18 and lock the clutch member 19 in engage-v ment with the opposing member 16 and thereupon the gear 12 will drive the pinion '18 which meshes with the largeg'ear 46 on the driven shaft 47, which is journaled on the machine frame. journaled in said. frame end to end, preferably, with the shaft 47 and has agear 49 thereon which meshes with the pinion 21, the driving of which is controlled through the rocking of the other shaft 26 and the other lever 34. lever will cause the clutch controlling levers 23 and 25 to be oscillated and'when the lever is moved in one direction, it' will lock the clutch member 20 while the lever 25 will remain inactive or' neutra1,.due to its position in the cam sleeve 29; but when this shaft 26 is rocked in the opposite direction, the reverse will be true, the clutch member 22 be- I ing locked While the meniber 2(i 'is neutral.

These members being splined on: the shaft, the locking of member 20 to the. ear 12 W111 transmit power through the she el 1 torthe pinion 21 and the gear .49, andlWh'en the member 22 is active and'the member'20 neutral, power will be transmitted through the gear..13, the shaft 14' and the "pinion 21' for driving the mechanism in the opposite direction.

With this mechanism, therefore, I am able A similar shaft -18 is g The release of this tion on one side indicating the corresponding mechanism on the other side with the same reference nun'icrals and the addition of the exponent a.

Referring now to- Fig. 1, the shaft its has a gear 50 eccentrically.mounted thereon. and meshes with an elliptic gear 51 mounted on a triple crank shaft 52 journaled in the rails 2 and 6 at the front of the machine. Each of the triple cranks has a connecting bar 53 pivoted thereon at one end and pivotally connected with an oscillating arm 5% journaled on a shaft 55 and having antifriction bearing wheels 56 in guides 57 at the rear end of the machine. WVhen the arms 53 are gyrated by the movement of the crank shaft, the arms 54 will oscillate and move forward-and backward in vertical. planes.

Above the machine frame and extending acrossitfroni side to side a. rod 58 and a series of legs 59 having slots 60 at their upper ends to receive the rod and allow freedom of vertical movement of the legs thereon. Suitable collars 61 are mounted on. said rod between the legs for guiding them thereon. The lower portions of the legs are pivotally connected at 62 with the corresponding connecting bars, there being one bar for each leg on eachside of the ma' chine and forward and backward movement of these bars will impart a corresponding oscillation to the legs, lifting them up and swinging their lower ends forward, all as described in detail in my application above referred to.

There are preferably three legs on each side of the machine, ut a greater or less number may be employed. At the lower end of each leg I provide a shoe 63, pivotally attachedv at its middle portion to the leg and having a pivotal iionnect-ion through a rod 64 'iivith its correspondingconnectin'g bar. A spring 65 is mounted on each "rod for normally holding the shoe in a horizontal.

by drawing on the lines, to set or release a position but permitting it to yield and adapt itself to the surface of the ground over which the machine may be moving. When the bars 53 are gyrated by the movement of the crank shafts, the arms 54 will oscillate and cause the-shoes 63 to move in straight horizontal planes when in contact with the ground and be lifted well up from the ground as they are moved from one position to another thereon. Movement of the elliptic gears is so timed with respect tothe eccentric driving gears that while the latter are on the low point of their peripheries or the point nearest the centers,- the elliptic gears will be on the high points and the slowing down of the gear and crank shaft will compensate for the otherwise faster travel of the bar 53 while its-crank shaft is passing the lower dead center. This is all-specifically described in my tractor HPPllCEItlOIl.

At the forward end of the machine 1 pro vide a caster wheel 66 which is free to oscillate on a central pivot 67 and allow the machine to be turned in either direction. By means of the lines and the clutch mechanism heretofore described the operator of the machine can transmit power to both sets of legs simultaneously or to one set independently of the other for operating it while the other set 'is stationary, or may operate one set of legs in one direction and the other in the opposite direction and therebyturn the machine within almost its own length.

1 claim as my invention:

. 1. The combination, with a frame and a source of motive power mounted thereon, of legs mounted to oscillate in a vertical plane, bars pi'votally connected with said legs re spectively, a clutch controlled gear mecha nism for driving said bars from said source of motive power, andoperating said legs either forward or backward simultaneously. orone set independently of the other or both sets in opposite directions, flexible lines for controlling said clutch mechanism, and traction shoes mounted on said legs and lifted and moved forward or backward by the operation of said legs.

2. The combination, with a frame and a source of motive power thereon, of a plurality of connecting bars upon opposite sides of said frame, an elliptical gear mechanism for operating source of motive power, a clutch mechanism for rendering said gear mechanism ac ive or inactive, flexible lines for controlling said clutch mechanism and operating said bars mechanism for operating said clutches.

walking said bars from said simultaneously or independently of each other and oscillating legs having traction shoes connected with said bars.

3. The combination, with a. frame and a source of motive power mounted thereon, of traction means, a clutch controlled gear said traction means from said source of motive power, there being two sets of gear mechanisms, one for each traction means, independent levers and lines connected therewith for shifting the clutches of said-gear mechanisms, and locking dogs for saidlevers, sai dogs being tripped by the backward movement of said levers to release them and shift 4. The combination, with a frame and a source of motive power mounted thereomof a traction means geared to said source of motive power, clutches gear for controlling the transmission of power to said traction means; levers connected with said clutches, line attachments for said levers, and automatically operating dogs mounted for locking or releasing said levers through the backward movement and release of said lines.

-5. The combination, with a frame and a source of motive power mounted thereon, of legs having traction shoes mounted in said frame, connecting bars for said legs geared to said source of motive power, clutches for controlling 'the transmission of. power. to said connecting bars, levers connected with said clutches and having flexible lines attached thereto, notched bars adjacent said levers, dogs pivoted on said levers and having teeth for holding said levers in a neutral position, said bars also having pins therein and said clogs having teeth depending in position to contact with said pins at a predetermined oint in the movement of said levers.

, 6. The combination, with a tractor having asource of motive power, a traction means and a driving connection between said source of motive power and said traction means, of clutches for controlling said dr-iving connection, levers connected with said clutches, lines attached to said levers and locking dogs ounted to lock said levers in a neutral POSltlOII or release them to set said clutches when said levers are moved from their neutral position and released.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of March, 1917.

ARTHUR "n COLE.

to enter the notches in said bars interposed in said 

